Jamie Foxx Shares His Experience with Police “…Talked to Me Like I wasn’t Human”

Jamie Foxx has it all—talent, a successful Hollywood career, celebrity, cash. But Foxx says all of that isn’t enough to escape the cold slap of racism. The actor, singer and comedian recently opened up to Rolling Stone Magazine about the real facts of life when you are black in America.

Foxx, who has starred in hit movies like “Django Unchained”, “The Amazing Spider-Man2” and the recently released “Annie”, says the racial tensions and all the police brutality affects every black person, no matter how “white” you feel. Foxx tells of this recent experience: “I’m driving in my neighborhood, which is predominantly White. And I’m feeling white—I got my top down and my Rolls Royce like ‘Wow, this is a great, white day!’ With my boy … we’re riding down 101 in L.A., chilling [on a] Sunday. All of a sudden, the cops get behind me. And I’m like ‘OK, the cops are behind me, but it’s a great day and I’m really mainstream.’ But he turns his lights on and I’m thinking ‘It couldn’t be me.’ And I actually move over and say ‘Yeah, go get ‘em! Go get those guys’ and he was like ‘It’s you—pull it over!’ and when he yelled at me, he yelled like I was crazy. He talked to me like I wasn’t human.”

Foxx says this country can’t heal until it looks at the race problem head on and stops blaming victims of police brutality for their own deaths. He says in the Eric Garner case, “What was the infraction? Guy selling cigarettes—he ends up dead. Look at the kid who was in Aurora, Colorado, who came in and sprayed and killed 12 people. How many times did they shoot him? They didn’t shoot him — they just apprehended him. He just murdered 12 people.”

Foxx says we need to have an uncomfortable conversation about race and deal with it. Foxx says, “when I see a police officer I get nervous. And I’m Jamie Foxx. As soon as they stop me, I tell ’em, ‘You know I’m panicking. I’m nervous. Tell me what to do.’ But can a police officer say ‘I’m afraid of every Black person I see’?”